Happy and close, Raphinha‘s music had begun to fade in Barcelona. There are heavy backpacks in football, for example the price of an expensive signing. There are few, however, as hard for a player to overcome as being ignored by a coach who does not trust nor does he want to trust. And Raphinha, who had arrived at Barça sponsored by Deco, current sporting director of the Barça entity, never managed to convince Xavi Hernández. And he didn’t understand it. “He always takes me off the field in the 60th minute, it doesn’t matter if I’m playing well or badly, what’s the point?” the Brazilian complained to his surroundings. In his first season with Xavi, he only completed two games of the 35 he had started as a starter; in the second, five out of 25. In total, seven out of 60. Enough minutes, in any case, to score 20 goals and distribute 23 assists. “I don’t know what else I have to do,” Raphinha protested.
The strange thing, according to the sports area, is that Xavi was the only one who was not convinced with the Brazilian. “Whenever we had questions from Portuguese or Brazilian players we asked Deco for advice, who knew them well. But it is true that we talked about Raphinha without knowing that he was the agent,” explained Jordi Cruyff, Barcelona’s technical secretary, when the Blaugrana paid 58 million euros to Leeds for his transfer. Raphinha, however, did not seem willing to give up. Not even when he found out that the board was considering the idea of looking for a left winger, none as tempting for Barcelona as Nico Williams, when they had previously considered the possibility of hiring the Colombian Luis Díaz (Liverpool). “We have Raphinha, Ferran… also Ansu, who was very good during the preseason, but had the bad luck of the foot injury. And there is Lamine. There are players who can act as a false winger like Dani Olmo. We are clear that to bring in a player he has to be of a very high level,” Deco explained to explain that Raphinha’s place was safe in the squad. Convinced Deco (it wasn’t that difficult), it was his turn to do it with Hansi Flick.
By then, Raphinha’s smile had already begun to resurface. The son of a musician—his father was part of Ronaldinho’s band—last August he sent a signed Barcelona shirt to Max Cavalera, leader of Sepultura, a legendary Brazilian group. “The trust of the coach and my teammates is very important to me. I am always willing to learn a little more. The mentality with which I started this season was different from the others,” Raphinha explained. The psychologist? Hansi Flick. And the first thing the coach did was send him to the left wing, a position that, at first, did not appeal to him.
“What do I tell the players?” Flick started his presentation to explain his method of working with the squad. “I tell them what I expect from them, what they can improve on and the things they do well. I try to make them understand and be part of the idea. This way each player knows what they have to do. That brings confidence. And I am very sincere with them. It is important that they know what is happening. Beyond the fact that they are things they don’t want to hear,” the German coach concluded. According to him, he had it easy with Raphinha. “It’s a good example of how the team can work. He always has a good attitude in training and in games. I have never had a player like him,” Hansi Flick praised him.
But Raphinha explains his version. “Now I’m not afraid. I’m not in a rush to do things right. Before I only had 60 minutes, now the whole game,” the Brazilian told his close people. This campaign he has played 12 games as a starter and completed 10. His statistics rose to nine goals and six assists. In addition to the coach’s trust, he earned that of his teammates, elected captain ahead of Lewandowski last summer. “It’s not just about wearing the bracelet. We must help and listen to young people. See how people are. I try to help everyone as much as I can,” says Raphinha. Today he is (again) happy. His music plays again. It’s not Sepultura or Ronaldinho’s band. It’s his football. Barcelona also hopes that Coldplay, sponsor of the Barça shirt, will be heard during their visit to the Santiago Bernabéu.
